Part 8 (2/2)
The evidence on which he arrived at this conclusion was slender, but Stanton signified a.s.sent.
”Well,” he said, ”where's the hurt man?”
”I've a notion he's in yonder muskeg. The other fellow could have packed him there on the led horse--the blood spots point to it--though he might have hid him farther on in a bluff. It's getting too dark to search now; we'll try to-morrow. But I guess we know who he is.”
”Sure,” said Stanton. ”I'll swear to the hat. Chaffed Jernyngham about it one day, and he put it in my hands and said there wasn't another of the kind in the country. A man from Hong Kong gave it to him.”
Curtis took up the bill.
”Five dollars, Merchants' Bank, and quite clean; not been issued long.
We'll find out if they've a branch at Regina or Saskatoon and trace up the fellow they paid it to. The b.u.t.ton doesn't count--quite a common pattern. Now if you'll fill the kettle at the creek, I'll start a fire.
We'll camp near the birch scrub yonder.”
CHAPTER VI
A DEAL IN LAND
On the morning after the corporal's discovery, Gustave Wandle was leading his team to a drinking pool on the creek that crossed his farm. He was a big, reserved, fair-haired man, with a fleshy face that was redeemed from heaviness by his eyes, which were restless and keen. Though supposed to be an Austrian, little was known about him or his antecedents except that he owned the next half-section of land to Jernyngham's and farmed it successfully. It was, however, believed that he was of an unusually grasping nature, and his neighbors took precautions when they made a deal with him. He had reached the shadow of a poplar bluff when he heard hurried footsteps and a man with a hot face came into sight.
”I'm going across your place to save time; I want my horse,” he explained hastily. ”Curtis, the policeman, has ridden in to the settlement and told me to go up and search a muskeg near the north trail with Stanton.
Somebody's killed Jernyngham and hidden him there.”
”So!” exclaimed Wandle. ”Jernyngham murdered! You tell me that?”
”Sure thing!” the other replied. ”The police have figured out how it all happened and I'm going to look for the body while Curtis reports to his bosses. A blamed pity! I liked Jernyngham. Well, I must get to the muskeg soon as I can!”
He ran on, and Wandle led his horses to the pool and stood thinking hard while they drank. He was well versed in Jernyngham's affairs and knew that he had once bought a cheap quarter-section of land in an arid belt some distance off. A railroad had since entered the district, irrigation work had been begun, and the holding must have risen in value. Now, it seemed, Jernyngham was dead, which was unfortunate, because Wandle had found their joint operations profitable, and it was very probable that Ellice and himself were the only persons who knew about the land. Wandle mounted one of the horses and set out for Jernyngham's homestead at its fastest pace.
On reaching it, he soon found an iron cash-box in a cupboard and succeeded in forcing it with a screw-driver. It contained a few papers, among which were one or two relating to the purchase of the quarter-section, and Wandle put these in his pocket. The others he threw into the cupboard--Jernyngham's carelessness was well known--and then hastily studied a railroad time-table. By starting promptly, he could catch a train at the station next after Sebastian, which he thought would be wiser, and reach a new wooden town of some importance in the evening.
Having ascertained this, he hurried out and rode home, taking the cash-box with him. On arriving, he smashed it flat with an ax and flung it into his stove in which a fire was burning; then he made a hasty meal, changed his clothes, and saddling a horse, rode hard across the prairie. There was, he realized, some risk in what he meant to do, but it was not a very serious one, and he was thankful that the sale of land is attended by few formalities in western Canada.
When he reached his destination, business premises were closed for the night, but after making inquiries he found a land agent who was recommended as respectable and trustworthy at a smart hotel. Wandle led him to the far end of the lobby, where they would not be disturbed, and sitting down at a table took out the papers.
”What's that quarter-section worth?” he asked.
The agent told him and Wandle lighted his pipe and affected to consider.
He thought Jernyngham had not suspected its value.
”Don't you think you could get another three dollars an acre?” he suggested.
”It's possible, if you will leave the sale in my hands; but I may have to wait for a suitable opportunity. There's a good demand for land in the district now that they're getting on with the irrigation scheme, but to insist on the top price will mean delay.”
”Could you sell it for me promptly at the figure you mentioned?”
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